State to lower Interstate 10 to regain adequate clearance

The state plans to spend about $6 million to lower the pavement around this Interstate 10 overpass at Harper Road (RR 783) in Kerr County where the low clearance of 15 feet , 5 inches eastbound forces tall vehicles to detour through Kerrville along Texas 27.

Photo: Zeke MacCormack / San Antonio Express-News

KERRVILLE — Repeated resurfacing of Interstate 10 over past decades has built the pavement up so high, there’s now inadequate clearance for tall trucks under the Harper Road overpass, forcing them to detour off the highway onto side roads.

The large trucks tie up traffic on Texas 27 and occasionally tear down overhead utility lines, much to the consternation of city leaders.

“There’s a lot of big stuff, heavy trucks coming through,” said R.G. Cook, owner of Kerrville Drug Company at 1050 Junction Highway (Texas 27). “I see that almost daily. And when they bring those slow-moving loads, that are either extra high or extra wide, they always have a police escort.”

The problem worsened as the Eagleford Shale energy boom filled regional roadways with huge pumps and other large machinery on flatbed trucks. But Texas Department of Transportation officials are now designing a solution.

Contractors will be hired next fall to remove all of the pavement around the bridge, excavate dirt and lay new asphalt, said Mike Coward, TxDOT’s area engineer in Kerr County.

The Harper Road, or Ranch Road 783, overpass “has been a hot topic the last two years,” he said.

The clearance on eastbound lanes on I-10 are marked at 15 feet, 5 inches and the westbound lanes at 15 feet, 8 inches — significantly below the state norm of 16 feet. High trucks have hit the overpass four or five times in the past decade, causing cosmetic damage but no structural problems to it, Coward said.

“We’ll totally rebuild the road and, because we’re lowering the pavement, we’ve got to reprofile the ramps too,” he said.

Work on the roughly $6 million project should begin in November and take a year to complete.

That’s welcome news to Kerrville City Manager Todd Parton, who estimates the low bridge forces hundreds of truck detours through downtown each month.

A review of old records showed the overpass once had a clearance of 16 feet, 8 inches, Coward said, but repeated overlays of new pavement have transformed into a tall trucker’s nightmare.

“It’s a royal pain,” said Richard LaBiche, an instructor for escort drivers at Acme Truck Lines in San Antonio, noting the low overpass requires extra planning and time allotments by pilot car drivers.

“A lot of oilfield stuff is moving back and forth and they always have to exit coming through there,” he said. “You have to go all the way down through Comfort (before rejoining 1-10) when you’re coming back east.”

The state shouldn’t stop with increasing just that one bridge’s height, said Art Martinez of Texas Oversized Pilot Car, who likes lots of clearance.

“There’s many, many low bridges on I-10,” and shippers know it, he said. “They usually don’t send really tall loads or wide loads down I-10 because you have to get off and on so much.”